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I was researching some privacy laws, and the Council of Europe has different laws than the European Union, apparently.

Can a European give me the quick version on what they are and on the differences between the two? I know what the EU is (I think), but I'm not familiar with the Council of Europe. They're both have .int domains, which means they're both recognized as international organizations with some sort of diplomatic purpose.

The Council of Europe is one of the bodies which constitutes the European Union. If it has different rules from "the EU," I would surmise that the rules are for its own institutions, not for the member countries. The U.S. Senate could require that all Senate committee and Senator websites required a fuschia background, but that would not be the same as requiring all websites in the United States to have a fuschia background.

The Council of Europe has more to do with "democracy and human rights, social cohesion, the security of citizens and democratic values and cultural diversity". Used to help eastern European countries to become democratic.

The EU is all about justice and economincs. The EU regulates about everything, from the size of standard boxes to VAT percentages. Democracy and some other values are required to become a member.

I was researching some privacy laws, and the Council of Europe has different laws than the European Union, apparently.

My advice is to research the privacy laws of the countries you're trying to do business with. There is no such thing as an "EU law" at the moment - the EU passes a directive, which is adopted to national law by all of the 15 national parliaments within a given period of time. The national laws can vary in some (important) details, even if they are built on the same directive.

Think of the European Union as a federation of independent countries who are slowly integrating with the intention to become a single country. (At the moment there are negotiations about a single constitution for the EU.)

The Council of Europe however is a loose union of countries, comparable to the UN or the OECD.

The Council of Europe is like the board of directors in a large corporation, in this case for the European Union. One member forwards suggestions, and the other representants inside the Council analyze and bring value onto it. Afterwards, each country modifies the new directive according to its internal laws. Acting as "affiliates", European Union members-wannabes also modify the directive and asimilate it without having the right of modifying it inside the European Council.

sovidiu, I think you're mixing up the "Council of the European Union" and the "Council of Europe". Whereas the "Council of the European Union" can be viewed as the board of directors, the "Council of Europe" is a multi-national organisation like the UN or the OECD.